Monday, April 4, 2011

Chicago: The Architectural Wonder

While Blakeni beat me to the punch with her amazing chair snapshots, I would like to share a myriad of the timeless and experimental architecture Chicago has to offer and also a few interesting destinations that really encapsulate the experience of this wonderful city.

Below is Crown Hall, a marvelous International style structure built by none other than Mies van der Rohe. Crown Hall happens to be the school of architecture on the campus of IIT. Below is a showcase of a few of their truly impeccable models in both craft and creativity. By the way, the students don't keep blogs, go figure!

Here is the McCormick Tribune Campus Center designed by Rem Koolhass with the metra running straight through the ceiling. A truly inspirational building that incorporates angles throughout in very unique, spatial configurations, which can be seen in these images through the exterior tilt and in the one of a kind consolidation of the ramp and stairs.

An absolutely stunning configuration of fluorescent tube lighting in the student center

The Ant Series 7 Chair!.......these chairs are literally scattered throughout the student center...almost as if a colony of ants took over....

A nighttime shot of the famous Bean.

The Kaleidoscope effect in the center of the Bean.

The Pritzker Pavilion designed by Franky Gehry

The Aqua Tower was designed by Jeanne Gang, the first female to build a skyscraper in the midwest. The buildings floor planes extrude sensuously out of the rectangular grid of the skyscraper and form rippling awnings and balconies for the residents. Furthermore, the blue tinted glass heightens the sense of cascading water, almost as if it ripples downward onto the protruding floor plates.

The former IBM Headquarters was the last skyscraper designed by Mies van der Rohe in the famous International style and sits directly across from the new Trump International Hotel.

This is a section of the river walk near Hotel 71 where we stayed.

Here is an interesting light fixture that stood out to me in the lobby of Hotel 71.

Of course, every great city has a wu-wu.......

Michelen Men outside the Contemporary Art Museum.

The extension of the Arts Institute Museum known as the Modern Wing designed by Renzo Piano, an architect well-known for his minimalist style and is one of the most influential designers spear heading design projects for major museums.

A view of Chicago from the end of Navy Pier, home of the slowest Ferris Wheel.

A lonely lighthouse on the outskirts of the pier.

The two story, Rock n' Roll McDonalds!

The ominous, dominant presence of the Trump International Hotel in the heart of Chicago.

The Chicago Tribune! A very unique building that showcases material blocks from all over the world in its facade, from the Great Wall of China to Parliament.

Lastly.....the city within a city, Marina City....also known as two giant ears of corn.